Lower Ball Joint replacement

[BrownHP800]

2002 Trailblazer 4x4

Trying to replace drivers side lower ball joint.

For the life of me I can not get the ball joint to separate from the steering knuckle. I have the ball joint fork and I can wedge it in the whole way and it will not loosen. It is in to where the fork is bottomed out and does not move. I have a feeling the ball joint is so bad that its just moving the lower control arm and not pulling the ball joint through the knuckle. (Yes I did remove the nut on the bottom lol) I even tried tapping up and nothing it is like it's threaded or something in there.

I guess only solution is like a 3 jaw puller perhaps and press it out that way?

Any help is greatly appreciated it.

I did the upper joint ant that was a piece of cake compared to this.

 

[Tiggerr]

Might just take a bfh. Pound up on LCA. If you have it up high enough where you can get enough swing to just wail on it. Pounding up on something is always tough though. If you have it all apart still from the upper, you could take out the whole LCA, knuckle and all. Put it on a bench in a vise...or the ground and try to get some leverage that way. Remember there is always a bigger hammer lol! Mechanics law #1

 

[Sparky]

Yeah pretty much what he said. On mine I had to give the one side a fairly hefty bashing to get it to pop. It finally did.

 

[MAY03LT]

X3 on the BFH. I have to give it all I have and then some.

 

[BrownHP800]

Well finally got it. I had to get a 2 jaw puller and put it right on the ball joint stud and crank the poop out of it and it finally popped. Whew. It took all I had to get it to move. After that mess the rest of it went smooth.

 

[Tiggerr]

Glad to hear you got it.

 

[Bluto4x]

That's why I got the ball joint press. Makes life simpler.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

The ball joint press still sucks on the lowers.

Glad you got it done!

 

[Camdo]

There are two tools I have found invaluable to work the front end of my Envoy:

1. J43631 Lower Ball Joint Separator. Cost about $130 used. Removes the lower ball joint from the steering knuckle without damaging the boot or threads.

2. J24319-B Puller. Substitute OTC 7503 Cost about $65 new. Works great removing the outer tie rod from the steering knuckle, and the shock absorber lower yoke from the lower control arm. Very rigid. Pops them off without damaging either part or threads. It has a rotating cup that fits on top of the threads so it will not slip off.

The J numbers are the official GM service tools. They are very universal and can be used on a variety of vehicles. They are top quality high strength forged alloy steel. Don't bother with the china junk. Google the J number and a variety of sources will come up including eBay.

Here is a picture of both:

 

[Mooseman]

Not to diss your post but save some money and just use a big hammer to remove joints from their knuckles. Just a sharp rap or two on the knuckle usually breaks it loose from the vibration. I've been using this method for 30 years and rarely has it failed me, at least not in recent memory. For the shock/strut yoke, the tool we use is the pitman arm puller. Much cheaper.

 

[Tiggerr]

Not to diss your post but save some money and just use a big hammer to remove joints from their knuckles. Just a sharp rap or two on the knuckle usually breaks it loose from the vibration. I've been using this method for 30 years and rarely has it failed me, at least not in recent memory. For the shock/strut yoke, the tool we use is the pitman arm puller. Much cheaper.

+1 for the BFH works wonders 😀

 

[Daniel644]

Not to diss your post but save some money and just use a big hammer to remove joints from their knuckles. Just a sharp rap or two on the knuckle usually breaks it loose from the vibration. I've been using this method for 30 years and rarely has it failed me, at least not in recent memory. For the shock/strut yoke, the tool we use is the pitman arm puller. Much cheaper.

+1, I never see a mechanic use a ball joint fork, the one I bought years ago just spreads apart because the metal is so soft, whacking it with a hammer is the go to for me. I'll be doing the ball joints this weekend myself, I just went ahead and got new lower control arms so I get all the bushings too.


Camdo
for separating the yoke from the lower control arm you just need a bar to hold tension between the control arm and yoke while you whack the bolt (with the nut just threaded on to prevent damage to the threads), took me all of 3 whacks with a framing hammer to pop that loose.

 

[Camdo]

I feel like I am reading "Tales From The Hack'n Whack Garage"!

I appreciate good tools, and enjoy the pleasure of using them. The job goes better with them. They add precision, don't damage the machine, and over the long term will cost less because they don't damage. The job is more assured because you know your tools will work.

I know you can use a hammer to separate taper fits. I also know the impacts will expand the metal, mall the threads, damage down line bearings, tear the rubber boots, skin knuckles, and smash fingers. And who can forget those backstroke bumps and snags working on your side lying on the ground trying to get that perfect hit. Lets not forget the torch when the hammer won't budge those really stubborn joints. Just heat it up bright red and give it a whack, oozing grease aflame, burning rubber. Reuse it no problem, just bolt it back on and drive away. Works okay. You guys love it, so go for it. Enjoy. You have your methods and I have mine. We will not agree and can leave it at that. We work differently and think differently and have different objectives.

 

[Daniel644]

I feel like I am reading "Tales From The Hack'n Whack Garage"!

I appreciate good tools, and enjoy the pleasure of using them. The job goes better with them. They add precision, don't damage the machine, and over the long term will cost less because they don't damage. The job is more assured because you know your tools will work.

I know you can use a hammer to separate taper fits. I also know the impacts will expand the metal, mall the threads, damage down line bearings, tear the rubber boots, skin knuckles, and smash fingers. And who can forget those backstroke bumps and snags working on your side lying on the ground trying to get that perfect hit. Lets not forget the torch when the hammer won't budge those really stubborn joints. Just heat it up bright red and give it a whack, oozing grease aflame, burning rubber. Reuse it no problem, just bolt it back on and drive away. Works okay. You guys love it, so go for it. Enjoy. You have your methods and I have mine. We will not agree and can leave it at that. We work differently and think differently and have different objectives.

If you want to spend 100's of dollars on tools where a hammer and a metal bar will work, go right ahead, but you should note you can't hurt the spindle with a hammer, they are the hardest part of a vehicle and your replacing the ball joint so what does it matter what happens to it, beside you can prevent damaging the threads by threading the nut back on the end till the nut is just shy of exposing threads and that will prevent damage to the threads.

 

[Mooseman]

If you do it as a profession, sure, it's worth it but for the average DIY'er, we don't have barrels of money buried in the back yard. I have tons of tools that I used only once (Spent-Moore) because I had a job to do and it was the only option. One guy just made his own wedge tool for the timing chain because he didn't want to spend $100 for something that cost him maybe $5 to make for the same thing.

Again, it was no disrespect to you or your post. We just need different options for different people.